RAF Castel Benito

  1934 to present

  Libya

CITY: Tripoli

IATA/ICAO CODES: TIP / HLLT

COORDINATES: 32°40'N / 13°09'E

OTHER NAMES: Tripoli Castel Benito (1938-1943), RAF Castel Benito (1943-1952), Tripoli Idris (1951-unknown date), RAF Idris (1952-1969), Tripoli International (present)

Right: an April 1943 aerial shot of RAF Castel Benito's perfunctory installations.
Photo credit: Flickr

The airfield came to existence in 1934, as Libya was still an Italian colony. The Regia Aeronautica built the airfield on the southern edge of Tripoli, where it based the 15° Stormo da Bombardamento with Savoia-Marchetti SM79 and SM81, as well as the 13° Gruppo da Caccia with Fiat CR32 and CR42. Shortly before World War II, the first Italian Military Parachute School was founded at the airfield.

From 1938, the airfield also became Tripoli's civilian airport, under the name Castel Benito. It connected Tripoli to Rome, Tunis, Malta and Marseille, along with other cities in Libya like Benghazi, Ghadames, Sabha and Kufra. Another route served by Ala Littoria led towards Asmara in Africa Orientale Italiana (today's Eritrea), 4,000 km away, via Kassala, Sudan.

When Italy entered World War II in September 1939, Castel Benito turned back to its military role. The airfield was raided multiple times by Allied bombers, most notably in November-December 1941, and December 1942-January 1943. On 7 January 1943, the last Italian airplane, a Savoia-Marchetti S74, left Castel Benito to Italy before the British Army arrived. After the British took Tripoli, the airfield was renamed RAF Castel Benito and was used by a number of Allied operational squadrons involved in the desert war and in the Tunisia battles. It also became a major stop on Air Transport Command's North African route, until its operation moved to Mellaha AB east of town on 15 April 1945.

After the war, the airfield remained an RAF station, along with Tripoli's main international airport. It was renamed Tripoli Idris / RAF Idris in 1951 to honor the king of newly-independent Libya. In 1969, the RAF station closed as Libya became a republic. The airfield in now Tripoli International Airport.

1262^nd AAF Base Unit (RAF Castel Benito) (January 1943 to April 1945)

Air Transport Command North African Wing / Division (January 1943 to April 1945)

• Curtiss C-46A-45-CU Commando: 42-96599